Merrill Library Newsletter — September 24, 2024

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In this issue: 

  • Observing Banned Books Week
  • IR Provides Global Scholarly Impact
  • Celebrating the Early Days of the UMaine and American University in Bulgaria (AUGB) Collaboration
  • Featured resource: Project Muse


Observing Banned Books Week


Join us at Merrill Library in celebrating Banned Books Week from Sept. 22 to 28! This annual event, observed nationwide, highlights the freedom to read and the importance of access to information. We have created a special display in the library featuring a variety of frequently challenged books, all available for borrowing. These books span various genres and topics, allowing readers to explore materials that have sparked important conversations.


For more information on Banned Books Week and the fight against censorship, visit the American Library Association’s (ALA) website at www.ala.org.


Stop by Merrill Library and pick up a book today to support the freedom to read!

IR Provides Global Scholarly Impact


During August 2024, DigitalCommons@UMaine, the university's institutional repository (IR), experienced 65,164 full-text downloads by patrons at 2,210 institutions across 176 countries. "Gender Roles and Society," by Sociology Professor Amy Blackstone, remains the IR's most popular article, downloaded a total of 411,935 times since 2013. Angela Czup claimed the number two spot in August with her thesis, "The Impact of Cooking Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior, and Food Security Status on Diet Quality of College Students at the University of Maine," downloaded 627 times. 


For information about self-archiving in DigitalCommons@UMaine, please email um.library.spc@maine.edu.

Celebrating the Early Days of the UMaine and American University in Bulgaria (AUGB) Collaboration

Table display at the AUGB reception

On Wednesday, September 13, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy held a welcome reception for President Margee Ensign from the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) to the University of Maine campus. Since 1991, AUBG has been a partner institution of the University of Maine, working to provide students and faculty with academic opportunities around the world. To help celebrate the event, University Archivist Matthew Revitt exhibited items that showcased the early days of the AUBG collaboration,

a unique cooperative between UMaine, the U.S. and Bulgarian Governments, and the Open Society Institute.

Distinguished attendees included Dr. Julia Watkins, former AUBG President (1993–2003), Marisue Pickering, former VP of Academic Affairs at AUBG, alumna Orlina Boteva (’01), director of International Programs at the University of Maine, and Karen Boucias, former AUBG Board member and current University Council member, and Daisy D. Singh, dean of libraries, University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias.

John Pickering and Matthew Revitt chat at the AUGB reception

Featured resource: Project Muse


Indexes and provides full-text access to more than 400 journals from 100 not-for-profit scholarly publishers. Project MUSE covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others.



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